Simply Being Loved
by Cielita
Summary: It's Christmas time, and Albus and Minerva are going to Hogsmeade to do some last minute shopping. ONE SHOT. PLease read. Warm Fuzzies!


Simply Being Loved  
  
Minerva's blue eyes opened almost at once. She rolled over and looked out the window to see fat, fluffy snowflakes falling softly to a mantle of white that covered the ground and trees at Hogwart's. A smile flooded Minerva's features. She loved the winter time almost as much as the spring. At the sound of soft mumbling, Minerva rolled over again, this time more gently. Tucking her long sable hair behind her ear, Minerva smiled. Albus was muttering in his sleep again. She lightly pushed aside a bit of his hair and very gently kissed his cheek. A smile graced his aged features as he muttered some incomprehensible words and went back to sleep. Minerva carefully crawled out of their bed and dressed, taking care as she pulled her long hair up into an flawless bun. Standing before the full length mirror now, Minerva pulled her gray winter robes over her shoulders and clasped the silver fasteners. She fixed her green tartan pointed hat on her head and the matching scarf about her neck before pulling her much heavier black cloak over her. Savoring the sudden warmth, she smiled as she took her drawstring purse and the muff that matched her hat, and quietly exited the room. She was going to get a head start on the Christmas shopping and Albus, her beloved husband, was the first one on the list. As she came to the entrance of the school, Minerva paused at the large doors to the Great Hall. Along the back wall was a large banner that read, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!". Albus, in a great Christmas spirit one night, had tried to paint this banner by hand. Minerva laughed as she remembered coming back to their rooms to find him covered from head to toe in red and green paint. She had wondered if he had gotten himself into the middle of a paintball fight between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. He had eventually given up the struggle, but not until Minerva had tried to help and gotten herself full of paint as well in the process. The two wound up on the floor, exhausted and their cheeks rosy with laughter. Albus had then brandished his wand and finished the job using magic, and the desired effect was nearly instantly reached.  
  
At the front gates of the school, a carriage waited. Minerva arrived and the coachman opened the door and offered his hand to help her inside. From here, Minerva rode in considerable comfort for the duration of the short trip to Hogsmeade. She was tempted to duck her head outside the coach's window and catch snowflakes on her face and tongue, but resisted the urge-for now.  
  
When she arrived in Hogsmeade, the coachman once again helped her to get out of the carriage and then nodded politely to Minerva before returning to the school. Minerva set out down the busy streets of Hogsmeade, listening to the people as they cried, "Happy Christmas!", "Happy Christmas to you!"  
  
"Professor! Happy Christmas to you!" cried a familiar voice. Minerva looked around and located the form of Professor Flitwick, already struggling with an armful of packages.  
  
"Happy Christmas, Professor!" Minerva replied, "My goodness don't you have quite a trove there!" Filius Flitwick only smiled.  
  
"Oh, well, I had many people to shop for! There's my prefects, fellow staff members, and of course my wife and children!" squeaked the charms professor.  
  
"Filius! I had no idea you were a married man!" said Minerva.  
  
"Oh yes!" Filius said, setting his packages on a nearby bench and producing a small leather billfold from the pocket of his cloak. Inside was a picture of a lovely dwarf woman with a very small baby in possession of a pair of very familiar blue eyes. Minerva's smile once again graced her face as she looked at them and then to Flitwick, whose eyes had suddenly clouded over with what could become tears, "Her name is Aurora. The baby is my son, Kyler. Aurora is pregnant with our second child as we speak! I'm hoping that she and Kyler can come and see me over the holidays."  
  
After chatting a bit more, Minerva turned the bench into a sled that Flitwick could pull along behind him. He fairly jumped for joy and continued on his way. Minerva chuckled as she shook her head and moved along herself.  
  
A sudden screech in the air turned her attention to a beautiful white owl that swept down and perched on her right arm as she offered it. "Good morning, Aislin," said Minerva, stroking her owl before it crept up her arm and settled onto her shoulder. Passing Honeyduke's, she considered getting something sweet for the top of her husband's gift. The allure of the massive candy store was too much even for her stern Scottish composition, so she entered the shop.  
  
"Good morning and happy Christmas, Professor! Who be ye today? McGonagall? Dumbledore?" teased the shopkeeper. Minerva chuckled. Amos was a dear friend.  
  
"I have the pleasure to be Mrs. Albus Dumbledore today, Amos," said Minerva, "Those chocolate covered caramel hearts were simply divine. Have you any more?" Amos smiled and bundled some for her along with a pound of lemon drops for Albus.  
  
Back at the castle, Albus rolled over in the warm morning light, lazily draping his arm over the place beside him where his wife should have been. Instead, his touch met with the still cooling sheets. Alarm pricked him awake as he sat upright. Where was Minerva? On her desk across the room was a curling piece of parchment, and Albus rose from their bed to go and read it. He sat down in her sturdy wooden chair, placed his glasses on his nose and read,  
  
Good morning my love,  
I suppose that by now you have discovered that I was not there when you awoke. I apologize if I frightened you. I've gone to Hogsmeade to do get a head start on the Christmas shopping. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks at noon if you would like to have lunch with me. Any earlier than that and you may have trouble following me. As you well know, I move quite quickly when I'm on a mission. By now, Aislin should be  
arriving upon our window sill to bring your reply.  
All my love and more,  
Minerva  
  
After he wrote a short reply agreeing to meet her at the appointed time, Albus stood up and made his way to the closet to get dressed. Minerva must have had a good two hours of head start by now, and if he was to purchase her Christmas present today as well, he had to get going. As Albus made his way down the streets of Hogsmeade, a chorus of carolers sang on a corner.  
  
"Lift your voices high and sing graces unto Him! Celebrate the joyful news! Hope is born again! And the hope of that first Christmas, the day that Heaven came to Earth! Now it comes again and fills our hearts as we celebrate His birth! Starlight falling on the snow, fire glows within. Celebrate the joyful news-Hope is born again!"  
  
Albus walked by the window of a small boutique in the village and stopped before it. In the window display was a pair of gold hair combs. He looked at them and considered his bride's long hair. A smile to melt the snows crossed his face and he walked into the shop.  
  
At noon, Minerva walked into the Three Broomsticks with several packages in her arms. She sat down at a corner table, where she could place her packages on the floor, and peeked into the bag closest to her. Inside was a remarkable living figurine of a phoenix that bore amazing resemblance to Fawkes. She was closing the bag again as a body sitting down across from her startled her.  
  
"Good afternoon love," said Albus, reaching across the table for Minerva's hand. Minerva smiled as he kissed her hand and the two ordered their lunch. Over the course of the next half hour, other people in the pub occasionally looked over at them. They were clearly the happiest couple in the room.  
  
When they returned to the castle that evening, Minerva joined Albus on the floor in front of the fire. She had taken her hair down and it spilled over her shoulder in long ebony locks. In her hands was her gift for Albus, now appropriately wrapped and topped with a bow. Albus, seated on the floor amid a pile of pillows and romantic atmosphere, had a small box in his hands. Albus leaned forward and took her face in his hand, gently letting his thumb brush over her cheek before he kissed her. His smile betrayed every love, every joy, that a man can feel for a woman.  
  
"Happy Christmas, Albus," Minerva said softly, pushing her present toward him. Albus smiled as he carefully pulled away the paper and ribbons. A soft gasp escaped him as he saw the figurine and, tucked in beside it, a warm pair of wool socks.  
  
"Oh, Tabby," he said, leaning forward to kiss her again, "Thank you, my love. They're wonderful!" Minerva smiled. "I'm glad that you like them dear. It took me nearly all morning to choose just which figure and which socks."  
  
Albus smiled. "I appreciate all the hard work, my love. Really," he said. Minerva blushed a bit and smiled back. Albus carefully handed her his gift, wrapped in her favorite colors, dark red and gold. Minerva opened the package and her eyes widened when she saw the combs.  
  
"Oh Albus!" she gasped. Albus carefully moved over to her side and took each of the combs in his hands, gently pulling back her hair into them. Albus sat down there before her and Albus chuckled again at the look of shocked awe on Minerva's face.  
  
"I'd been looking at those combs for months! They were so expensive, Albus!" she said softly. Albus played with a bit of her silken hair in his hand.  
  
"My dear, your love is more valuable to me than all of the gold galleons in the wizarding world. I love you so much," he said, gesturing with his eyes for her to look up. There, seated above them on his perch, was Fawkes, holding a sprig of Mistletoe in his beak. He made a cooing sound in his throat and Albus and Minerva laughed.  
  
"You think he's trying to tell us something?" said Minerva.  
  
"It's probably something like, 'hurry up and kiss her, you old fool!'" said Albus. The two laughed as Minerva took her husband's face in her hands and brought him to her for a kiss that would keep him warm for the rest of the night.  
  
**Finite** 


End file.
